Disruption: Job Cuts at Big Maker of Gas/Oil Generators

November 21, 2017

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Siemens (SIEGn.DE) will cut about 6,900 jobs, or close to 2 percent of its global workforce, mainly at its power and gas division, which has been hit by the rapid growth of renewables.

Most of the cuts, about 6,100, will be made before 2020 at Siemens’s Power and Gas division, which once thrived on supplying large gas turbines for electricity generation but has been overtaken by the global surge in solar and wind capacity.

“The power generation industry is experiencing disruption of unprecedented scope and speed,” Siemens management board member Lisa Davis said. “With their innovative strength and rapidly expanding generation capacity, renewables are putting other forms of power generation under increasing pressure,” she added.